Forgive Me Not
by Sylina1
Summary: There's a very good reason why Iori can't forgive Ken, ever...


Disclaimer/Notes: This is only my second fic *gasp!* and the compulsion to write it was really strong. It probably won't come out the way I wanted it to, but...  
  
Digimon doesn't belong to me, nuh-uh. Not sure who they do belong to, but I don't wanna go hunt the info down. So I'll just be safe and say this: they're not _mine!_  
  
This is an Iori fic, fairly angsty, and follows the episode " If I Had A Tail Hammer". Please feedback! I love hearing what you have to say. Even if it's just to say "Your fic sucks!" ^.^   
  
Forgive Me Not  
by Sylina  
  
"Iori's gonna eat a lot, ain't he?"  
  
"Well it IS his favorite dinner... I would hope so."  
  
"He looks kinda distracted...wonder what he's thinking about?"   
  
All the voices ran together as Iori sat slightly hunched over the   
table, staring at the food on the plate before him. Sure, it was his  
favorite, but trying to get up the nerve to eat was no use. He just   
wasn't up to it.   
  
Finally he stood up, and walked off. "Don't you guys know it's  
rude to talk about someone else when they're sitting in front of  
you?" His tone was more snappish than he meant it to be, and  
his family all stared at each other. Rarely did he ever seem to get  
upset about anything, but obviously something was wrong. He  
walked in the bedroom and shut and locked the door.  
  
He climbed up on the bed and laid back, scrunching his eyes shut.  
He hadn't meant to sound so mean himself - he hadn't wanted it to  
come out like that. He'd just been under so much stress lately....  
  
_No matter how much in control they think I am, I'm not. All that  
stuff about mediation, that's practically a joke! It's not really helping  
any..._   
  
Things had been an emotional roller coaster ride, first there had been  
gladness that Ken had finally been defeated but sadness that Wormmon  
had died for him. Iori had never seen a Digimon literally die, and it was  
so much easier to just forget, to put it out of his mind. Every time he saw,  
in his mind, the look on Wormmon's face as he died in Ken's arms, it nearly  
made him want to lose his resolve and just cry for hours. It was one of those  
heartbreaking looks, one that said "You're my best friend in the world...why  
did you do this to me?"  
  
Daisuke wanted him to forgive Ken. Why? Sure, you were supposed to forgive  
your enemies, but this...the guy had hurt countless Digimon and introduced all  
of them to a world of fear and terror. Iori couldn't figure out why Daisuke would  
want to forgive him so badly. Maybe he was just desperate for a new team member. Maybe it was just something he wasn't supposed to know.   
  
_I can't forgive him. Not now. Maybe years from now, but now it's just too fresh in my mind. He's made us all see things we'll never forget and there's no way I can ignore that. I know the others probably feel the same way..._  
  
Sighing, he rolled over and turned the light off, and slipped off into a restless sleep...  
  
*****  
Darkness. And then he realized where he was. Somehow he'd gotten into the digital world, but he hadn't used his Digivice. What was going on?   
  
_I don't know why I'm here...It's extremely dangerous. Couldn't I have at least  
gotten one of the others to come with me?_ He thought as he began trudging along in what used to be a beautiful forest, but was now only a charred mass of stumps. All of the Digimon were gone. Miles and miles of once green forest had been fried, extra crispy.  
  
_Whoever did this...deserves to die!_ In his heart he *knew* who it was, and while he felt guilty for harboring such feelings of hate towards a human being, Iori knew that Ken knew what he was doing was wrong, and he didn't care. Ken seemed to have no conscience or feel any remorse whatsoever about all the things he'd done. And to Iori,  
that was just what made him evil.   
  
He soon came upon a village, that obviously had once been filled with Digimon, but like the forest, had been burnt down. The only things left were the charred black bottoms of the buildings, the few that were actually left.  
  
"Is anyone here?" Iori called out, not expecting to get an answer back. He was surprised when a small black and green digimon came out of the shadows of one of the few buildings that weren't completely burnt, eyes downcast and whimpering.  
  
"I am....but who are you?" The little digimon sniffed and walked over to Iori. "Are you one of *them?*"  
  
"Heck no." Iori felt a wave of nausea at the very thought. "I don't like them at all. They're mean." _In the worst sense of the word._  
  
"Yeah! They took my family!" The digimon whimpered and made some sounds that Iori could only guess were sobs.   
  
"Oh man. I'm sorry." Iori said apolegetically, but the look in his eyes was one of pure hate. _Yet another heartbreaking scene, produced by our one and only Digimon Emperor._   
  
"But I'm not!" A laugh sounded through the air, the one that Iori feared the most. His skin began to crawl as the Digimon Kaizer jumped off of his Digimon onto the ground,  
just a few feet away. "I *knew* I had missed one!*  
  
A ring came hurtling through the air and snapped onto the neck of the Digimon just a few feet from the young DigiDestinied. The Digimon cried out and fell to the ground limply, and the Kaizer let loose with a cackle of glee at the look on his enemy's face.   
"Now he's mine!"   
  
Iori fought to maintain his composure and vaguely wondered if this was the way all the other DigiDestinied had felt, everytime they saw the Kaizer. More than likely... "Leave him alone!" Composure be damned, huh? "Why do you have to hurt everyone so much?"  
  
The self-proclaimed Kaizer smirked. "Just because I want to, and that's all the reason you need, runt! Now run along home and play with your bedbuddies. Don't forget to tell Momma all about it!"   
  
Iori glared at him and contemplated using some words that he'd only overheard. Ken's smile turned to ice, a vicious look in his eyes. Iori could see the pleasure he was getting from all of this and had no problem saying something about it. "You're a sick, sick person. You *feed* off of pain!"   
  
"Hmm, I suppose I do." The Kaizer grinned. He was tiring of this game quickly, but he wanted to draw the DigiDestinied's pain out as much as possible. And he knew that Iori was in pain simply from being in his presence. _They crumble so easily when they're alone._  
  
The Kaizer smiled sadistically and held out his hand, forming a Dark Ring. He saw Iori go pale and relished in the rush that washed over him. "Maybe if I take you, I can not only have some fun, but I can get back at those other DigiDestinied too!" Grinning, he changed the "settings" of the Ring with a thought so that it'd keep Iori from running away but wouldn't turn him into a mindless slave. Once it was put on the boy, it couldn't be removed without the Kaizer's magic and if Iori went anywhere outside of the castle grounds or away from his side, he would pay....greatly. The Kaizer wanted to see what would happen when the DigiDestinied were faced with fighting one of their own. Could be interesting...  
  
Iori saw the Kaizer's grin and had barely opened his mouth to scream when the Ring came at him, latching on to his neck and squeezing hard, choking the reisistance and  
the freedom from him and swallowing him up in darkness... he felt...himself...going  
limp...  
  
And as the Kaizer's crazed laugh echoed through his head, everything went black.  
*****  
"Iori? Iori, are you okay?" He felt hands shaking his shoulders. "I think you were having  
a bad dream, hon."   
  
Iori shuddered as the memories of his dream came rushing back to him. "Yeah, but I'm fine now." _Things will never really be fine..._  
  
His mother looked at him like she didn't believe him and sighed. "Are you sure you're feeling okay? You went to bed without ever eating and it was only 6."  
  
"I'm alright mom." He smiled. At least his parents actually cared about him. Unlike a few others he knew. "Go on back to bed. I'll go back to sleep."  
  
"All right, I love you." She smiled and left the room, closing the door carefully. She laid her head against the wall, feeling worried.Iori had always had a tendency to talk in his sleep and what she had heard of late was very disturbing. Maybe it was time to get him some help....  
  
Iori turned off his light and laid in the bed, crying silently. He had had dreams ever since becoming one of the DigiDestinied, but they'd never been this bad before...  
  
_This is why I can't forgive Ken._ Iori thought bitterly. "I'm sorry, D'suke.' He whispered. "I just can't."  
  
And he knew he never would.  
  
~Fin~ 


End file.
